It had been 350 days since the NISH football team had last tasted victory.

Since then, the Yellow Jackets had picked up losses to crosstown rival Westgate, several District 3-5A opponents and a tough Opelousas team.

Against Comeaux on Friday, the long wait looked like it might finally pay off, if NISH could just muster one final stand as the Spartans took the field on fourth and goal from the Yellow Jacket four-yard line.

To get to that point, both teams had done well to move the ball downfield with a mixture of passing and rushing plays. While both teams entered the game with winless records, neither team looked to be in poor form or poor spirits.

The Spartans struck first, scoring from a 28-yard pass before adding a second touchdown from an eight-yard run. The Yellow Jackets answered back with two touchdowns of their own, an eight-yard run from Shanga Charles followed by a seven-yard pass to Synjaya Hamilton. Each team missed an extra point in the first half, leaving the score tied 13-13 going into the break.

Comeaux scored again to kick off the second half, adding a two-point conversion to increase the lead to eight. Senior receiver Tristan Layne answered right back, taking the ensuing kickoff back to the Spartan endzone for a 75-yard touchdown. Charles added his second rushing TD of the night in the fourth quarter, giving the Yellow Jackets a 28-21 lead with less than 10 minutes left in the game.

As the Spartans marched down the field, the NISH coaching staff was desperately hoping that the Yellow Jackets could manage one final stand on defense.

It was fitting that senior safety Lemario Allen, who had missed several tackles throughout the game, delivered the final hit to knock the ball carrier out of bounds just short of the endzone, sealing the win for NISH as the crowd erupted in long-awaited celebrations.

For head coach Josh Lierman, the defensive stand served as a payoff for the weeks of hard work that his team has put into growing as players and as a team.

“I don’t know if they’ve been maligned, but they’re young,” Lierman said of his defense this season. “That’s part of the growing up process. You learn how to bend and not break and get stops anyway you can possibly get them. That’s what they’re doing. Our defense plays hard all the time, but sometimes it’s just a matter of youth showing itself sometimes.”

It wasn’t just the defense that received praise from Lierman as senior quarterback Allen Hamilton once again impressed with his ability to keep drives alive.

“He’s our leader,” Lierman said. “We go as Allen Hamilton goes. He knows that and there’s some pressure to go with that but he handles it. He’s given us everything that he’s got and that’s all he can do.”

Hamilton ended the game with 75 passing yards and one touchdown plus an additional 47 yards on the ground. Shanga Charles finished with 127 yards from 25 carries and two touchdowns.

The win wasn’t without its struggles, with several mistakes on both sides of the ball being capitalized on by the Spartans. Lierman acknowledged the shortcomings in his team’s performance, pointing out his player’s youth and inexperience.

“It’s some youth but even some of the upperclassmen haven’t played, so everyone is youthful,” Lierman explained. “We only have a few kids that saw any time last year. A lot of credit to Comeaux, too, they’re in the same situation that we’re in and they played as hard as they possibly could. We had to stop them basically at the goal line, on the one yard line, to win the game.”

The youthful nature of the team isn’t a downside for Lierman, who stressed the differences between lower levels of football compared to the difficult schedule that NISH plays.

“You’re playing 5A football in this district, so when you’re a freshman it takes some time to figure it out. They did well tonight and they’re still learning but it’s starting to pay off. It’s fun to coach young teams because you can see progress in every game,” he said.”

The win gave NISH a bit of breathing room and moved them away from a dreaded 0-10 season. With games against Sulphur (2-6, 1-5) and Lafayette (3-5, 1-5) remaining on the schedule, Lierman is confident that his team can continue to do well, as long as they focus on doing things the right way.

“It feels great (to win), but I don’t think we were staring down the barrel (of a winless season),” he said. “These kids deserve to win and I knew that if we just kept grinding and doing things the right way, eventually it would pay off for us and it did tonight.”